Opening Ceremony for the Unknown Soldier Tree Sculpture
Upton Parish Council have commissioned a tree carving ‘The Unknown Soldier’ and an official opening ceremony will be taking place on Friday 11th November at Berrywood Road, starting at 10:45am for an 11am start. The public communities are welcome to attend, with Upton Parish Council members present alongside representatives from West Northamptonshire Council, the Vice Lord-Liuetenant Morcea Walker MBE, the Royal British Legion Duston & District Branch and primary school children from St Lukes’s CofE school (who have been involved in the project) in addition to other local community groups.
UPC Councillors hope this will be piece of work which the community can be proud of and a focal point for future Armistice days. It is also hoped that the car park and the road connecting the two main routes can be further improved, with some long term plans to improve in partnership with West Northamptonshire Council the cemetery and garden area.
How the project began
Upton Parish Council were given the car park area and the road between Berrywood Road and St Crispin Drive in 2019.
The land was original under the management of Taylor Wimpy linked to the St Crispin development.
The remaining tree which stood in the middle of the carpark was a risk to the nearby building and was found to be infected with a fungus which meant the tree was dying.
Taylor Wimpey had begun to remove the tree as part on the agreement to pass the land to Upton Parish Council, when one of the Councillors had an idea to carve the tree into something, instead of removing the whole trunk.
The project began in April 2021 and Upton Parish Council gathered ideas from the Community. St Lukes CE Primary School took the opportunity to present Upton Parish Council with some ideas.
These were shared with Peter Leadbeater a chainsaw Sculptor who then incorporated these into the final design proposed to UPC.
Peter visited the school with Upton PC councillors to share the idea and undertook a wood carving demonstration.
The works on the tree commenced in July and over a number of visits during the summer the carving was complete. A local landscaper Steve Tee undertook the wall works to help frame the carving.
